A Look Inside a Modern Fragmentation Grenade

I saw these photos recently and thought many of our US based readers would find them interesting. Original grenades from around the world wars were designed so that the outer shell broke up into fragments. Further testing and experience showed engineers that by loading the grenades with pre-cut fragments, the hit probability was increased exponentially.

Modern Fragmentation Grenade

M26 Frag Grenade disassembled.

Pre-cut Fragmentation found inside modern grenade.

Notice how small the fragments are designed to be.

Take a look at the fragment coils shown in these pics. Remember them the next time you hear grenade stats that, “kill or wound 100% within such-&-such diameter”. Frightening stuff.

And finally in discussing future domestic terror attacks on US soil. Should bad guys bring these types of weapons with them across the border, image what kind of injuries first responders could face? Would you recognize it for what it was? If one were to be attacked by such a device, does the image of the “frags” alter your perceptions of what good cover might be? It should.